Jude Collins

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Last night's 'Prime Time': hooray, no Miriam.

James McClean

RTÉ’s Prime Time was
worth watching last night, and not
just because the presenter was the cool and thoughtful Richard Crowley rather
than smiling Miriam O’Callaghan, who brings new meaning to the term
“confessional state” and new depth
to the old song “Ma, she’s makin’ eyes at me”.

Admittedly the first part, about the south’s coming referendum
on the EU, was a bit of a snore. After twenty-five minutes, Micheál Martin,
Pádraig MacLochlainn and Eamon Gilmore had still not managed to explain it, let
alone why you should or shouldn’t
(or in our case, can’t) vote Yes or No. Although Gilmore did give me one
moment of philosophical sadness as I watched him: imagine not believing in a
God and choosing to spend your brief flicker of existence making daisy-chains
of clichés in an RTÉ studio.

But the second half was good, and good and clear as well. It
focused on the problem that’s driving the IFA bonkers: more and more players
like Darron Gibson and James McClean are opting to play for the south rather
than the north, where they were born and reared. Eamonn McCann came on (couture
tip, Eamonn: wear that woolly hat ALL the time) and argued with regret that
Ireland would soon have an Orange team in the north and a green team in the
south, and that the seeds of that were to be found in the Good Friday Agreement
set-up, which is equally sectarian in its nature. A second Eamon, Eamon Dunphy, argued that young Catholic
players from the north felt more “culturally comfortable” playing for the
south, and cited as evidence the concentrated vitriol of that infamous night in November, when the north
vs south game in Windsor Park produced crowd bigotry so thick, you could have
pulled off a bit and chewed it.

I always find the reaction of southern people who attended that
game very encouraging. When they’ve actually been on the receiving end of
northern bigotry, they’re much less likely to do the oh-stop-whingeing thing to
northern Catholics. Besides, as one of the southern football people effectively
said, them’s the rules. No matter where you’re born in Ireland, the rules say
you can play for the south if you want to. Simple as that. It’s like the granny
rule - you may mock it but it
still stays the rule, and sport is sport because people play by the rules. Or
should.

He explains, with forensic precision, why and how the law allows
young Irishmen in the north to play for the Republic of Ireland. Put like that,
it sounds a no-brainer. But then who said brains were the strong point of the
IFA?

Anon Mar 1 : Vote No - not that it'll make a difference - the polls tell us there are lots of masochists lining up for more of the European whip....

Anon Mar 3 : I think obsession's a bit strong. She hasn't so much offended me as my sense of what a presenter/interviewer should do: ask questions that are relevant while avoiding at all times ogling, simpering or well-hello-sailor looks at the camera lens...